TeichenvsteilenTell them apart

Quick tell: Teichen is a noun, teilen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Teichen” is a noun and “teilen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,269
“Teichen” frequency rank
#1,023
“teilen” frequency rank
45292
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Teichen teilen
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Teich ein Ganzes in Bestandteile zerlegen

Where the eye mixes Teichen and teilen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Teichen
6 ch
teilen

Why the eye confuses Teichen with teilen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Teichen is [ˈtaɪ̯çn̩] while teilen is [ˈtaɪ̯lən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45292, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Teichen is recorded at frequency rank #44,269, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈtaɪ̯çn̩]. teilen is at rank #1,023, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtaɪ̯lən].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 45292, this pair ranks #1,358,005 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Teichen vs teilen

Shared letters: eint. Private to "Teichen": ch. Private to "teilen": l.

"Teichen" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "teilen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Teichenetichen · tecihen · teicchen · teicehn · teichenn · teichhen · teichne · teihcen
  • teilenetilen · teieln · teilenn · teillen · teilne · telien · tielen · tteilen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Teichen" for "teilen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Teichen" is a noun and "teilen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Teichen" vs "teilen" - which ranks higher?
"teilen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,023 in our German list, against #44,269 for "Teichen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Teichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "teilen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,358,005 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Teichen" and "teilen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Teichen vs Teppichen". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,358,005 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list